Pre-Shabbat Jewish Literary Links

by Erika Dreifus on
2

Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen
Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen

Every Friday My Machberet presents an array of Jewish-interest links, primarily of the literary variety.

  • Check out Heidi Rabinowitz’s bibliography of “Diverse Jewish Kidlit,” and share your thoughts/comments with Heidi.
  • In which Howard Freedman, director of San Francisco’s Jewish Community Library, recommends three recent short-story collections: The Worlds We Think We Know: Stories by Dalia Rosenfeld; Inherited Disorders: Stories, Parables & Problems by Adam Ehrlich Sachs; and Heirlooms: Stories by Rachel Hall.
  • To say that I wasn’t exactly looking forward to watching the “Dirty Dancing” remake is something of an understatement, and early reviews from Zoë Miller and Helene Meyers are (more than) enough to ensure that I’m going to skip it altogether.
  • “NA’AMAT USA is pleased to invite proposals for the Second NA’AMAT USA Research Fellowship in Honor of Elizabeth J. Raider….The 2017-18 theme of the fellowship program is ‘Jewish Women’s Contributions to Israeli Society.’ Scholars from all academic disciplines working on Jewish women’s activism, critical engagement, and/or leadership in varied arenas including art, medicine, culture, history, education, politics, etc. are encouraged to apply. The fellowship carries an honorarium of $2500.” Deadline: June 15, 2017.
  • “The Alexander Grass Chair in Jewish History and the Isser and Rae Price Library of Judaica at the University of Florida are pleased to invite applications for short-term research fellowships during the 2017-2018 academic year. Researchers studying different aspects of the Jewish experience in Latin America, the Caribbean, and the southern regions of the United States from the sixteenth century until present day will have the opportunity to spend a maximum period of a month researching in the Price Library.” NB: “The Research Fellowship covers long distance and local transportation and lodging. The entire Research Fellowship stipend, including honorarium, transportation and lodging does not exceed $5,000.” Deadline: June 15, 2017.

    • Shabbat shalom.

    Words of the Week

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled

    “To me, the Zionist project is all about love and about heart, and the mere specter of an American Jewish community bereft of those qualities—of devotion to what is without doubt and by far the most exceptional Jewish enterprise in 2,000 years—strikes me as nothing less than heartbreaking.”

    Source: Daniel Gordis, “Why the American Jewish Distancing from Israel Is So Heartbreaking” (Mosaic)

    Pre-Shabbat Jewish Literary Links

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled

    Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen
    Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen
    Every Friday My Machberet presents an array of Jewish-interest links, primarily of the literary variety.

  • “Chances are if you’re a podcast fan or a Jewish book fan or both, you’ve heard [The Book of Life] somewhere.” That’s from the intro to a wonderful Q&A with podcaster, librarian, and literary champion Heidi Rabinowitz over on Jewesses with Attitude.
  • Israeli author Etgar Keret was recently in New York to receive the 2016 Charles Bronfman Prize, and Sandee Brawarsky caught up with him.
  • Job alert: “The Forward is seeking an experienced and stylish editor to create and manage a new vertical focusing on Jewish life and lifestyles. This go-getting editor will curate, assign and write exciting, engaging features and content about Jewish family life, relationships, travel, food, holidays, popular culture, celebrities and more — all intended to tell compelling stories and broaden the Forward’s audience. This content will range from breaking news to longer features to evergreen guides and annual projects.”
  • As I read Evan McMurry’s “The Fall of Rabbi Gold” a few days ago, I was reminded of a post I wrote some time ago for the Fig Tree Books blog on the subject of “rabbinic fiction.”
  • And speaking of Fig Tree Books, the latest issue of the newsletter that I’ve been producing there since 2014 went out to subscribers yesterday. It contains some nice pre-Shavuot treats—and a bittersweet announcement.

    • Shabbat shalom, everyone.

    From My Bookshelf: LOVE NAILED TO THE DOORPOST by Richard Chess

    by Erika Dreifus on
    1

    Richard ChessIn addition to being a gifted poet, Richard Chess is a kind and generous teacher whom I was lucky to encounter back when I was an MFA student. Some months ago, the happy news reached me that a new collection of his work was forthcoming. Love Nailed to the Doorpost, which was released earlier this spring, is Chess’s fourth collection to be published by the University of Tampa Press, after Tekiah (1996), Chair in the Desert (2000), and Third Temple (2006).

    A number of the pages in this new volume were familiar to me, because they appeared originally as posts in the Image/Patheos “Good Letters” blog series, and I’ve been following Rick’s contributions there for a long time. At first, I was a bit surprised to find these pieces in the book. I hadn’t necessarily perceived the pieces to be poems when I’d first read and admired them as blog posts. (more…)